Draft Signings: Brown, Benjamin, Dickey

No. 81 overall pick Aaron Brown received an over-slot $750K bonus to sign with the Phillies, reports MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo (on Twitter). Brown, who has already begun his pro career with Short-Season Class-A Williamsport, was a two-way star at Pepperdine, playing both center field and pitching in their rotation. Philly selected him as an outfielder. Brown ranked 89th on BA’s Top 500 and 120th on Mayo’s Top 200. The slot value for the No. 81 overall selection was $682,500.

The Rangers saved about $180K by inking fifth-rounder Wes Benjamin to an under-slot, $125K bonus, reports Jim Callis of MLB.com (Twitter link). The Kansas left-hander was up to 94 mph prior to Tommy John surgery in April, Callis notes. BA noted that the Jayhawks southpaw was moving up draft boards prior to his injury and still ranked him 371st in the draft.

Callis also tweets that Nationals fourth-rounder Robbie Dickey agreed to a $400K bonus that’s about $16K under slot. A 6’3″, 205-pound right-hander out of Blinn Community College in Texas, ranked 179th on MLB.com’s Top 200 and 210th on BA’s Top 500. Callis and Mayo note that Dickey turned heads last fall as a reliever, sitting 95-97 mph with his fastball and showing a solid slider and changeup. He dealt with biceps tendinitis this spring though and saw his velocity dip while his slider lost some of its bite.